Woot! Catster Ladies Sweep the Cat Writers' Association Awards

We are purring with pride here at Catster's World Headquarters this week. (Straight off the high we were on when Lil Bub visited last week, too. We're getting a bit spoiled.) Four of our writers have been honored with certificates of excellence by the Cat Writers' Association for articles written for Catster in a variety of categories. And 13 of our other contributors (listed at the end of this post) received the same honor for pieces published elsewhere. We're beyond thrilled to work with such a talented bunch.

Relive the magic with us with by scrolling through the nine award-winning pieces below, and to find out which of our columns was named one of the CWA's top columns of the year:

"Seventeen years ago this May, Siouxsie Mew walked into my life. My relationship with her has outlasted many friends and lovers, and pretty much every person in my life except my family and my best friend in the universe," JaneA writes. [Read the rest here.]

"We shared our home with Dobie, our first 'baby,' when we were expecting both of our children. That was 17 years ago, and I wasn't as informed about getting our cat ready for the new addition," Angie writes. "He began acting out and we had to stop and address the situation, which caused stress during a time when we really didn't need the additional strain. In retrospect, I would have handled the transitions much more carefully." [Read the rest here.]

"When some compassionate animal lovers stumbled upon the cats nine years ago and started Project Bay Cat to help them, there were 175 cats, and they were breeding fast. Today, thanks to Trap-Neuter-Return, adoption efforts, public education, and anti-abandonment programs, the cat population has been reduced by 60 percent. No more kittens are born here, and cats are no longer abandoned at the colony," Cimeron writes. [Read the rest here.]

"As soon as I walked in the door, I saw them. As I filled out my order and talked with the copy shop owner, I couldn’t keep my eyes off them," writes JaneA. "Finally, as I handed over the order form, I stared openly at the cage with three tiny black kittens inside, and I had to ask: What’s the story with those kittens?" [Read the rest here.]

"When I met John nearly 25 years ago, he knew I loved cats. I collected cat books and statuettes, befriended neighborhood kitties, and shared my home with a gorgeous black cat named Daphne. I knew his family had always had cats, but at the time, his lifestyle wasn't one that allowed for an animal companion of any kind," Angie writes. [Read the rest here.]

"Cats are prolific breeders and can reproduce until death. Randi Fairbrother, president and founder of Catalyst for Cats Inc. in Santa Barbara, states, 'I once trapped a female nursing a teenage litter, [and] a younger litter about six to eight weeks old, obviously pregnant with a third,'" writes Marci. [Read the rest here.]

"At least a couple of times a year, there’s a kerfuffle about the dangers of feral cats, generally orchestrated by anti-cat organizations with huge PR budgets. The media typically grabs these hyperbolic arguments and runs with them, too. Even well-respected publications jump on the cat-hate bandwagon," JaneA writes. "Where are the feral-cat-advocate voices in these stories? Typically, nowhere: The media doesn't want to hear it. Besides, it's hard for ordinary people to stand up and advocate for trap-neuter-release (TNR) when they're countered by organizations that use their scientific cachet and "studies" to make their anti-TNR talking points. Enter Peter Wolf." [Read the rest here.]

"I don't remember burying deceased pets when I was a kid, but I think some sort of closure is healing and honors the life of the animal. Since we've moved into our current house, we've lost one cat. His name was Fritz, and he lived on this earth a few short years. His kidneys failed and his condition was too far along when we finally received a diagnosis. My kids were four and six when he died, so it was the first time they could really understand what was happening with a pet's passing," writes Angie. [Read the rest here.]

"If you visited Room 1 at the Homeless Animal Rescue Team shelter in Cumberland, ME, you’d probably have no idea that some people used to call it the feral cat room. A white longhair girl would come touch your hand with her nose, while a giant marmalade boy would prostrate himself at your feet, purring the entire time. Several others would come closer to check you out," writes JaneA. "Just a few months ago, few of these cats would have done anything but hide or maybe hiss at you. What has made the difference? One woman on a mission to help cats feel safe -- and therefore become more adoptable -- through the use of flower essences and a special form of therapeutic touch." [Read the rest here.]

And last but hardly least, Angie Bailey also won for her Catster column, "Kids, Cats, Chaos," which provides tips and insight into life with kids and cats. We came up with the column after a Comscore report showed us that half of our readers have both kids and cats, and it's become a site favorite. See all of Angie's KCC columns over here.